NBC Sports Group named MATTHEW HUTCHINGS President & GM of the soon-to-launch Comcast SportsNet Houston. He will report to JON LITNER, Group President of the NBC Sports Group. Hutchings had been President & CEO of Altitude, an RSN based in Denver. Altitude hired KIM CARVER to replace Hutchings as President & CEO. Carver had been VP & GM of The Mtn., the Mountain West Conference's channel that is partially owned by NBC Sports Group. The company said a search to replace Carver has already begun. CSN Houston will launch next fall as a partnership with the Astros and Rockets, which own a combined 80% of the RSN. The channel will launch with programming from the Rockets. It also holds the rights to the Astros starting in '13. Hutchings, who grew up in Houston, starts at the Houston RSN Dec. 12.